FBI director nominee James Comey testifies that waterboarding is torture at a Senate committee hearing.

In front of a Senate panel on Tuesday, Obama’s nominee for FBI director, James B. Comey, said that while he was deputy attorney general under Dubya—and while he said it was OK to waterboard—he believed the tactic was torture. Now Comey thinks waterboarding is illegal, too. At the time, he said, it was difficult to label the technique illegal because the law itself was vague. Still, he says he told the administration to stop waterboarding. While Comey is a pick that’s actually received some bipartisan support, some Democrats are concerned with his time serving in the Bush administration.

"Mr. Comey’s nomination has received strong bipartisan support, but some Democrats and civil liberty groups have raised questions about his role in the Bush administration. Last week, two of the Democratic senators, Richard J. Durbin of Illinois and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, sent a letter to Mr. Comey, expressing their concern about how he approved the use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” that included waterboarding.

On Tuesday, many of the senators appeared satisfied with Mr. Comey’s answers about waterboarding, and it does not appear that the Republicans will try to block his confirmation.

Mr. Comey distinguished himself from many members of the Bush administration — and significantly raised his national profile — when he testified before the same Senate committee five years ago. His testimony was perceived as repudiating government surveillance programs.

Mr. Comey did not provide new details about the incident on Tuesday, but he addressed the issue of government surveillance, which has become a thorny issue given a series of disclosures of classified programs by Edward J. Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor. Mr. Comey also defended the use of surveillance programs to identify terrorists."

“I do know as a general matter that the collection of metadata and analysis of metadata is a valuable tool in counterterrorism,” he said.

Supposedly the libertarians believe that US foreign policy is empire building and that we should cease these "foreign adventures". That's one libertarian ideal that I could support. But if that reflects their true values, then why weren't they boycotting NuttinYahoo?

Just another angry conserviclod permanently stuck in the past and using a public forum to project his bullying paranoia. Not going to lay down and take it anymore, Bibi? Congratulations, you have become the thing you once despised.